I came across this place on Urbanspoon and wanted to check it out as it’s not too far from my friend’s place. I’m a huge fan of Claypot Rice and was really impressed with the ones I tried at James Snacks in the Empire Center Food Court in Richmond on my trip to Vancouver this past summer. I wanted to see how this place compares since James Snacks had won multiple awards for their Claypot Rice.

The One Spot Soup House is literally a hole-in-the-wall type eatery. There is a bit of weirdness to the name of this place that I haven’t quite figured out. The signage out front displays 湯.com, which literally means “Soup.com” in Chinese. There is no English on the signage at all. Yet on the take out menu it is listed as “The Soup House” and the whole menu has been translated in English so apparently they are anticipating English-speaking customers. Furthermore, what’s interesting is that Urbanspoon lists this place as “The One Spot Soup House”. So I’m still not quite sure what the real name of this place is. Ironically though, in addition to offering gourmet Chinese soups, this place is actually known for its Claypot Rice.

My friend C and I decided to share an order of 117a. Claypot Rice Topped with Tender Chicken & Dried Mushroom & Sausage ($6.95). The Claypot Rice came with a complimentary bowl of their daily homestyle Chinese soup and a side of pickled daikon and carrots.

We were pleasantly surprised at how plentiful the toppings were. The chicken pieces were flavourful and tender. The Chinese sausage and mushrooms gave the rice additional flavour since everything was steamed together in the Claypot.

The rice was well-prepared and developed a nice caramelized crust at the bottom. This is always my favourite part of the Claypot rice dish. I usually judge how well this dish is prepared by how well the rice crust forms. Like usual, this dish is made from scratch upon ordering so it takes about 30 minutes to be ready from the time of ordering. If you’re in a hurry, you can call in your order in advance to cut down on the wait time.

Overall, I really enjoyed this Claypot Rice at The One Spot Soup House. Even though, I personally think the version from James Snack is slightly better, The One Spot Soup House is a great alternative if you don’t feel like trekking down to Richmond. This place is really a “hidden gem” as I would never have noticed it while driving by. My friends and I were surprised at how busy this place was on a Sunday evening. Luckily, we managed to get one of the last tables. Despite the weirdness with respect to the name and the signage, I guess people have found out about this place by word of mouth.